Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said that he expects the next general election to come before a possible hike in taxes that has met resistance from the public and is intended to fund his unprecedented expansion of defense spending.
"We will be asking the people to take on an extra burden starting at an appropriate time between 2024 and 2027,” Kishida said in an interview with satellite broadcaster BS TBS late Tuesday. "We are going to decide on the start date, but I think there will be an election before then.”
Kishida has unveiled plans for a 60% increase in defense spending over five years after many in Japan have been spooked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, rising tensions around Taiwan and developments with North Korea’s missile program. The move marks a historic change for a country with a pacifist Constitution that has capped its military spending at about 1% of gross domestic product for decades.